Planet Taco

A Global History of Mexican Food

Jeffrey M. Pilcher

Reveals the historical origins of the taco, the Mexican-American invention of the fast-food taco, surfers as pioneers of global Mexican, how Corona beer conquered the world, and when the Margarita was supersized.

Author is respected expert on the history of Mexican food and speaks to a wide variety of non-academic audiences.

Planet Taco

A Global History of Mexican Food

Jeffrey M. Pilcher

Description

As late as the 1960s, tacos were virtually unknown outside Mexico and the American Southwest. Within fifty years the United States had shipped taco shells everywhere from Alaska to Australia, Morocco to Mongolia. But how did this tasty hand-held food--and Mexican food more broadly--become so ubiquitous?

In Planet Taco, Jeffrey Pilcher traces the historical origins and evolution of Mexico's national cuisine, explores its incarnation as a Mexican American fast-food, shows how surfers became global pioneers of Mexican food, and how Corona beer conquered the world. Pilcher is particularly enlightening on what the history of Mexican food reveals about the uneasy relationship between globalization and authenticity. The burritos and taco shells that many people
think of as Mexican were actually created in the United States. But Pilcher argues that the contemporary struggle between globalization and national sovereignty to determine the authenticity of Mexican food goes back hundreds of years. During the nineteenth century, Mexicans searching for a national cuisine were torn between nostalgic "Creole" Hispanic dishes of the past and French haute cuisine, the global food of the day. Indigenous foods were scorned as unfit for civilized tables. Only when Mexican American dishes were appropriated by the fast food industry and carried around the world did Mexican elites rediscover the foods of the ancient Maya and Aztecs and embrace the indigenous roots of their national cuisine.

From a taco cart in Hermosillo, Mexico to the "Chili Queens"
of San Antonio and tamale vendors in L.A., Jeffrey Pilcher follows this highly adaptable cuisine, paying special attention to the people too often overlooked in the battle to define authentic Mexican food: Indigenous Mexicans and Mexican Americans.

Planet Taco

A Global History of Mexican Food

Jeffrey M. Pilcher

Table of Contents

Preface Introduction A Tale of Two Tacos Part I Proto-Tacos Chapter 1. Maize and the Making of Mexico Chapter 2. Burritos in the Borderlands Part II National Tacos Chapter 3. From the Pastry War to Parisian Mole Chapter 4. The Rise and Fall of the Chili Queens Chapter 5. Inventing the Mexican American Taco Part III Global Tacos Chapter 6. The First Wave of Global Mexican Chapter 7. The Blue Corn Bonanza Conclusion The Battle of the Taco Trucks NotesSelect Bibliography Index

Planet Taco

A Global History of Mexican Food

Jeffrey M. Pilcher

Author Information

Jeffrey M. Pilcher is Professor of History at the University of Minnesota. He is the author of Que vivan los tamales!: Food and the Making of Mexican Identity; The Sausage Rebellion: Public Health, Private Enterprise, and Meat in Mexico City; and Food in World History. He also edited the Oxford Handbook of Food History.

Planet Taco

A Global History of Mexican Food

Jeffrey M. Pilcher

Reviews and Awards

"Meticulously researched and comprehensive Pilcher's concluding chapter provides a masterful analysis of the elements that shape and impinge upon the quest for food authenticity in general." --CHOICE

"Many of Pilcher's anecdotes are entertaining and informative...folks looking to supplement their favorite meal with some food for thought need look no further." --Publishers Weekly

"Pilcher's proper emphasis on regional cuisines enables him to rescue the Tex-Mex taco from those elite Mexicans (often based in Mexico City) who reject it as a commercial invention: in fact, Tex-Mex cooking evolved organically in the border region, combining North American ingredients with Mexican sensibilities. Viewing food as a force of history, Pilcher imagines that 'the thin edge of a taco may one day help bring down the militarized border.'" --Foreign Affairs

"For those willing to sign on for the ride, it's a fascinating gold mine of information DS thoughtfully explained, usefully organized, and thoroughly documented. Eating a taco is eating history, indeed." --MM Pack, The Austin Chronicle

Planet Taco

A Global History of Mexican Food

Jeffrey M. Pilcher

From Our Blog

On the fifth of May, many in the US and Mexico will celebrate Cinco de Mayo, the commemoration of Mexico's victory over the French at the Battle of the Puebla in 1862. In this excerpt from Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food, Jeffrey Pilcher looks at Cinco de Mayo and the first written instance of the word 'taco.'

By Jeffrey M. Pilcher
Mexican cuisine has experienced a renaissance in the past few decades. In the United States, taco trucks and immigrant family restaurants have replaced Americanized taco shells and chili con carne with Oaxacan tamales and carne asada. Meanwhile, celebrity chefs have embraced Mexican food, transforming it from street food into fine dining.